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The show goes on for Post 27

PLYMOUTH — John Scott assumed it was just a weather delay.
The Plymouth Post 27 announcer and assistant coach was following the team’s game at Logansport Post 60/418 online last Friday when the feed stopped. But what Scott thought was only bad weather turned out to be something far worse.
In fact, what interrupted the feed was a line drive foul ball which squeezed its way into the visitor’s dugout and struck Post 27 General Manager Dean Colvin in the face as he sat updating the online scorebook, breaking his nose and fracturing his skull above the left eye. Colvin was rushed to Logansport Hospital before being transferred to Fort Wayne Parkview where he stayed under observation until he was released Sunday.
“There was just a small gap for the ball to actually get to him, and it got him,” said Scott. “He was keeping the automatic scorebook at the time. I didn’t go to the game, I was actually sitting at home watching on the internet, and in the bottom of the first inning everything just quit. I just figured it had started raining or something. I didn’t think anything about it until later on that night when I got the call from Mike Hite telling me it had happened.”
It remains uncertain whether Colvin will need surgery, although initial signs are good. The bad news is that the manager and Marshall County Superior Court 2 judge will be out of commission for awhile, and those who know the active man say the down time will be hard on him.
“He’s on the road to recovery; it’s just going to take a long time to come around,” said Scott. “He’s a very active person. He’s always on the go doing different things whether it’s work or baseball, and the hardest part for him has been trying to slow down a little bit.”
Colvin has served as Post 27’s General Manager since its inception more than 10 years ago.
A longtime baseball aficionado, his oldest son Ryan was a player both at Plymouth High School and in American Legion baseball in the summer, although he had to travel to South Bend Post 357 for that opportunity. When Post 357’s baseball club went under, Colvin helped corral coaches and sponsors together to start the Post 27 team in 2001. Since then the squad has brought in talent from around northern Indiana and consistently been one of the top American Legion clubs in the state. Not just a fun way to spend the summer, Post 27 has been and continues to serve both as a developer of talent and as a springboard for players to be seen by colleges.
“Dean just wanted to do this for the kids, to give them another way to play and have things available for them to be seen by colleges and have a chance to play at the next level,” said Post 27 head coach Tony Plothow, who helped start the team with Colvin and others a decade ago. “That was one of the main things, and he wanted to help Plymouth baseball out as well and give them another place to play like his son had.
“He does a little bit of everything. He runs this whole program. I can’t speak for all the coaches, but I would not be doing this if Dean wasn’t involved, and the way he runs things, we’re really a first-class organization with the team and the sponsors.”
The Post 27 outfit is unique because — unlike many other Legion teams, which are largely pay-for-play and not cheap — the Plymouth squad’s every need is provided for, from uniforms to buses to travel fare to Coca Cola.
“These kids don’t have to worry about anything,” Plothow said. “Here we are as we speak heading off to Terre Haute and staying in a hotel and having the meals paid for with four or five uniforms. It’s a lot different from when we played Legion baseball, and that’s something that the kids have responded to well over the years.”
Although Colvin will be missed as he recovers from his injuries, the judge and the rest of the Post 27 staff of Plothow and Scott, Hite, Will Hostrawser, Greg Briles, Josh Dietz and Ryan Carroll insist it won’t disrupt the club’s summer too much.
“From day one, this has never been a one-man operation,” said Colvin. “There have always been a lot of coaches and a lot of teams involved.”
“We met a few days after this happened and tried to figure out where to go from here while Dean healed up,” said Plothow. “Obviously, we don’t want to think about doing this without Dean; we just want to keep things above water until he gets back. Everybody is just stepping up and doing a little bit more.”